Of Librarians and Charter-Skins
by ChocoholicBec
Summary: The first time Lirael wore a Charter-skin, everything went to plan. It was taking it off that was the problem.


Cross-posted to AO3.

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><p>"Dog!" wailed Lirael. The Dog looked up at her, eyes wide and innocent, evidently trying not to smirk but unable to prevent her tail whacking the floor with every wag. "You <em>knew <em>this would happen! Why didn't you warn me?"

It was two weeks past Lirael's sixteenth birthday. She had finally managed to create a Charter-skin of an ice otter, and had bounded around her study for a few minutes, enjoying even the black-and-white vision and the sudden craving for fish. She was exhausted, but it had filled her with elation to wear a different shape, albeit for such a short time.

The spell to remove the Charter-skin was a simple one. She had not anticipated that it would remove her clothes as well. Her shirt, her leggings, her yellow Librarian waistcoat: all were puddled around her ankles, the stitches unpicked. Even her undergarments had fallen into pieces at her feet, and her white headscarf lay in shreds. She stood, stark naked, in her Library study, and scowled at the Dog.

The Dog lay down with a heavy sigh. "I didn't _know_, Mistress," she said, tail still wagging. "I only suspected. It's a frequent occurrence, when first starting out with shape-changes."

"That's not helpful," said Lirael. "How am I supposed to get back to my room with no clothes on?"

"Could you make a new Charter-skin to go back unseen?" said the Dog.

"I'm not even meant to know how to make a Charter-skin!" said Lirael, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'd be in trouble twice over, if someone saw me! Besides, it'd take hours, and I'm worn out. It's already after midnight."

The Dog wasn't listening. "Someone's coming," she remarked, slid behind the door as it opened, and vanished from sight.

Deputy Librarian Ness poked her head in. "Lirael, what are you- oh. _Oh._" She looked away, shaking her head, as Lirael tried in vain to cover her body. Removing her waistcoat, she handed it to the blushing girl, lips pursed in annoyance. "All right, where is he?"

"Who?" asked Lirael, confused, as she pulled on the white waistcoat. Ness was of a tall and solid build, so the waistcoat covered Lirael to her thighs, for which she was very thankful.

"Don't play coy," said Ness with an irritated sigh. "He's hiding under the desk, I suppose? No, don't come out," she said to the imaginary person behind the desk. "I don't want to see." She rolled her eyes and turned back to Lirael, who was barely able to conceal her complete bewilderment. "Charter help us, girl, you know better than this. I know you practically live here - well, Kirrith, who can blame you - but you _know _you're not permitted to have lovers in the Library. Bedrooms _only_." She sighed again. "All right, two weeks of extra roster duties as punishment."

A guilty blush still mantled Lirael's cheeks, although it was for quite a different reason than Ness thought. Any other time, the idea that one of the other Clayr thought that Lirael had illicitly taken a lover to the Library would have filled her with embarrassment, but right now pretending she had seemed the best solution to her problem. Even two weeks of scrubbing toilets was better than losing her job for reading _In the Skin of a Lyon_, which she had discovered was still catalogued (despite the book having been lost for possibly centuries), and classified as _Heavily restricted: To be read only with permission of a Deputy or the Chief Librarian_. Lirael stammered some sort of apology, but Ness held up a hand to stop her.

"No, no, I don't want to hear it. Goodness, you're starting young, aren't you?" She looked keenly at Lirael. "How old are you? Fifteen?"

"Sixteen," whispered Lirael.

"Well, just be careful," said Ness. "I hope you remembered the contraceptive spell. Vancelle hates when her Third Assistant Librarians get pregnant." She frowned. "I have to get back to the Midnight Rounds. Go back to your room, and take whoever this lover is with you. And I want my waistcoat back, _clean_, by the day after tomorrow." She walked out of the study, grumbling.

The Dog poked her head out from under the desk, although Lirael had been sure she hadn't been there a moment before. She woofed quietly, and grinned. "That was amusing."

Lirael buried her head in her hands. "That was _embarrassing_, you mean. It will be all over the Glacier by tomorrow."

"That too," said the Dog, and licked her hand. "Come on, Mistress, chin up. At least you won't have to think of an explanation, next time someone finds you naked in your study."

Lirael groaned, and tried to think of the fastest and least busy way to the Hall of Youth. "_Next time_? Next time, just remind me not to take off Charter-skins in the Library!"


End file.
